California Air Resources Board

Would have created the Refrigerant Stewardship and Recovery Act, which would have required producers of covered products, as defined, to form and join a producer responsibility organization (PRO). The PRO would have been required to submit a plan to CalRecycle for the handling of disposal of covered products. Was amended to be about recycling major appliances.

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Would have added a requirement that a dwelling unit must be able to stay at or below 82°F using a safe, nonmechanical cooling method to be tenantable. If an air conditioning unit is replaced, the bill requires landlords to dispose of unused refrigerants pursuant to CARB regulations. Was not heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

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Would have required the director of CalRecycle to establish a working group to study alternative methods of methane reduction. The working group would have been required to submit its findings and recommendations to the director by January 1, 2029. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to convene an interagency task force to evaluate the role of alternative manure management practices in achieving certain goals, make specified findings and recommendations, and coordinate specified scenario modeling of alternative manure management practices. The bill would have authorized CARB to incorporate the task force's findings and recommendations into its Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP) Reduction Strategy, the 2027 Scoping Plan, and other planning documents as appropriate. The bill also would have required CDFA to convene relevant government agencies to create a process for approving new projects that manage livestock and dairy manure. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB to determine whether using building materials with lower embodied carbon would be cost effective during the first 2-year period of their use compared to using conventional building materials before implementing embodied carbon regulations.If not, CARB must delay or suspend, as applicable, implementation of those provisions for no less than 5 years. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have established the Biomass Innovation Park Grants and Financing Program, to be administered by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA). Would have required CNRA to facilitate the process of identifying eligible parks, develop guidelines for soliciting proposals, and specify requirements for each park.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 1666 without my signature.

This bill would establish the Biomass Innovation Park Grants and Financing Program, to be administered by the Natural Resources Agency, to identify biomass innovation parks.

I thank the author for his commitment to advancing the use of wood biomass to improve forest health and build wildfire resilience. In partnership with the Legislature, my administration allocated $50 million from the Climate Bond to the Department of Conservation to develop a program to fund the development of large-scale biomass facilities and identify opportunities to accelerate the utilization of wood waste biomass.

The program proposed in this measure would require additional resources not included in this year's budget. With significant fiscal pressures and the federal government's hostile economic policies, it is vital that we remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications that are not included in the budget.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Would have formally expanded the California Department of Recycling and Resource Recovery’s (CalRecycle’s) California Climate Investments Food Waste Prevention grant program to provide financial assistance for the recovery of edible food, as specified. The bill also would have specified that eligible infrastructure projects included the construction or expansion of facilities to help develop, implement, or expand edible food waste recovery operation and required CalRecycle to consider the increased amount of edible food recovery capacity that the project will create when awarding a grant for edible food recovery. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Eliminates the continuous appropriation of 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to the High-Speed Rail Authority on June 30, 2026, and beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, and until December 31, 2030, requires 25% of the annual proceeds of the GGRF to be transferred to the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account (MVFA). Beginning July 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, the bill reduces the rate of the tax imposed upon each gallon of fuel by a specified percentage based annually on the amount transferred to the MVFA from the GGRF. Failed passage in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and was granted reconsideration.

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Would have requiredCARB, on or before January 1, 2028, to publish on its website an assessment of the life-cycle emissions from alternative uses of forest and agricultural biomass residues. The bill also would have required CARB, on or before January 1, 2028, to complete a comprehensive strategy to support beneficial carbon removal products generated from agricultural or forest biomass resources, including, but not limited to, biochar, as specified. This bill also would have required the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to require, as feasible, for State-funded forest health projects, a disposal plan describing how much biomass residue should be physically removed versus burned by prescribed burn. The bill also would have required the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to investigate the use of biomass fuel made from biomass residues, as specified.

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Governor’s Veto Message:

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 88 without my signature.

This bill would require the California Air Resources Board to develop specified methods and protocols to quantify the avoided emissions and beneficial uses of forest and agricultural biomass. This bill also would direct the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to require forest health projects to include a resource disposal component, and the California Energy Commission to include biomass-derived low- and negative-carbon fuels in certain reports.

Throughout my Administration, I have been supportive of advancing methods and practices to sustainably address the growing amount of woody biomass waste in the state, primarily due to the risk it presents of exacerbating catastrophic wildfires. This is why my Administration, for years, has recommended and acted on strategies to address this challenge and risk.

While I applaud the authors' desire to further this work, most of the requirements in this bill are duplicative of existing efforts. At the same time, other provisions would trigger new and substantial costs at each of the affected agencies not accounted for in the 2025 Budget Act. In partnership with the Legislature this year, my Administration has enacted a balanced budget that recognizes the challenging fiscal landscape our state faces while maintaining our commitment to working families and our most vulnerable communities. With significant fiscal pressures and the federal government's hostile economic policies, it is vital that we remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications that are not included in the budget, such as this measure.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

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Exempts an agricultural crop preparation service (ACPS) from the Department of Recycling and Resource Recovery’s (CalRecycle) regulations for the Edible Food Rescue Program for Commercial Edible Food Generators (CCR Tit.14, Div. 7, Chap. 12, Art. 10) promulgated under the Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Strategy if the ACPS demonstrates to CalRecycle, in a form and manner developed by CalRecycle, that it has not disposed of organic waste in a landfill on or after January 1, 2016.

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